Friday, January 20, 2012

“I may be wrong but” is one of the ways I preface a
statement when I really think I'm right but trying not to be too obnoxious. Which is probably
fairly obnoxious…

For years I’ve cooked Dungeness crabs in plain boiling
water, no spices (horrors) and no salt.
The crabs are always stunningly delicious and sweet. Divine really. But meanwhile my
fishmonger, Paul Johnson (owner of Monterey Fish and author of 2008 IACP Cookbook
of The Year, Fish Forever) insists
that lots of salt in the water is really important. I’ve been nagged by cognitive dissonance—I think Paul is
fantastic AND I think my boiled crabs are fantastic. I finally decided to test. I bought two crabs—lets not tell Paul that all of the crabs
at Monterey Fish were spoken for on the day I woke up with this bee in bonnet, and
so I had to buy them across town...

I boiled two big pots of water. Into one pot I measured exactly ¼ cup of sea salt for each
gallon of water, so you (or Paul) couldn’t say I didn’t do it exactly right.

I took photos of the pots of boiling water and the crabs, so that when I turned out to be right, I could post the story with photos.

Coming soon

My new book came out in May! Check local booksellers or order from the following sources:

My career started with a hand-written recipe for the tiny cocoa-dusted chocolate truffles given to me by my Paris landlady in l973. I went on to make and sell those pure bittersweet truffles at the Pig by the Tail Charcuterie (a distant fond memory now) across the street from Chez Panisse in Berkeley CA in l973. This led to the accidental invention of the larger so called “American” chocolate truffle and the opening of my own chocolate dessert shop, Cocolat, in l976. Since the Cocolat days, I’ve written 8 cookbooks –the most recent, Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-In-Your-Mouth Cookies was published in 2010 and Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts will come out in May 2012—and won three cookbook of the year awards. I’ve taught cooking classes across the country, consulted with venerable chocolate companies as well as the newest cutting–edge chocolate entrepreneurs, appeared on TV with our beloved Julia Child and more. Today I continue to write, consult, teach, and experiment. I’m still learning and still having fun.